Reflective Function, Maternal-Child Interaction and Child Development: Impacts of Intervention for High Risk Families, Innovative Methods, Measurement and Fidelity Assessment

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorLetourneau, Nicole
dc.contributor.authorAnis, Lubna
dc.contributor.committeememberBenzies, Karen Marie
dc.contributor.committeememberEwashen, Carol J.
dc.date2020-11
dc.date.accessioned2020-08-21T20:59:16Z
dc.date.available2020-08-21T20:59:16Z
dc.date.issued2020-08
dc.description.abstractParents suffering from toxic stressors (depression, addictions, family violence) are often unable to respond sensitively to their infants. Such early, persistent stress is understood to interfere with infant brain development, placing infants at risk for health and developmental problems over their lifespan. Parental sensitivity is also influenced by parental Reflective Function (RF), the ability to envision mental states in oneself and one’s child. While many modern parenting programs aim to improve parental sensitivity to their infants to promote healthy child development, parental RF is a commonly missing component. Parental RF is modifiable by intervention and predicts improvements in maternal sensitivity and responsiveness and infant attachment security, thus clearly beneficial. However, the link between an intervention aimed at improving parental RF and child development is unexplored. Given the importance of the early years for children’s development, improved interventions for vulnerable children and families have become public health imperatives. My doctoral research sought to examine the effectiveness of an innovative parenting program called Attachment and Child Health (ATTACHTM) on parent-child interaction and child development. In this manuscript-based dissertation, the first manuscript presents the results from the ATTACHTM pilot studies, demonstrating that ATTACHTM improved outcomes. The ATTACHTM pilots employed new accelerated methods to combat time- and cost-related challenges associated with traditional randomized controlled trials. Therefore, in my second manuscript, I undertook a realist review comparing innovative methods for intervention evaluation with traditional randomized controlled trial (RCT) methods in their ability to test, mobilize knowledge and provide recommendations for best approaches to promote child health. In my third manuscript, I compared the validity of different tools to measure RF, given the increasing need for effective, efficient rapid assessment in wide-ranging settings. Finally, I prepared a manuscript on the need to deliver evidence-based programs to promote early childhood development with fidelity. I developed and assessed an intervention fidelity tool for community nursing research by using the ATTACHTM intervention as an exemplar. My dissertation concludes with a summary of the research findings, and recommendation for nursing research, policy and practice.en_US
dc.identifier.citationAnis, L. (2020). Reflective function, maternal-child interaction and child development: impacts of intervention for high risk families, innovative methods, measurement and fidelity assessment (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/38104
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/112417
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyNursingen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectparental reflective functionen_US
dc.subjectmaternal-child interactionen_US
dc.subjectchild developmenten_US
dc.subjectinterventionen_US
dc.subjectrandomized control trialen_US
dc.subjectinnovativeen_US
dc.subjectmethodsen_US
dc.subjectvalidityen_US
dc.subjectfidelityen_US
dc.subjectATTACH™en_US
dc.subject.classificationEducation--Early Childhooden_US
dc.subject.classificationMental Healthen_US
dc.subject.classificationPublic Healthen_US
dc.titleReflective Function, Maternal-Child Interaction and Child Development: Impacts of Intervention for High Risk Families, Innovative Methods, Measurement and Fidelity Assessmenten_US
dc.typedoctoral thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineNursingen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrueen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
ucalgary_2020_anis_lubna.pdf
Size:
1.56 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Doctoral Dissertation
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.62 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Open Theses and Dissertations